George Duke was an American singer-songwriter who has worked as much for him as for many popular artists.
Little is known about him except that he was a prolific composer, his discography being particularly extensive.
We will especially remember the huge hits that are "Reach for it" released in 1977, "Shine on" in 1982 and "Reach out" in 1983.
The artist will leave us definitively on August 5, 2013 at the age of 67 as a result of chronic lymphoid leukemia.
To discover or rediscover.
Discography (among others ...) :
You and me 1977
Reach for it 1977
Come on and boogie 1978
I am for real 1978
Party down 1979
I want you for myself 1980
Sweet baby 1981
Shine on 1982
Ride on love 1982
Reach out 1983
Born to love you 1983
Heroes 1983
Secret rendez vous 1984
Thief in the night 1985
I surrender 1985
Broken glass 1986
Good friend 1986
Guilty 1989
Lady 1990
Fame 1992
Love can be so cold 1995
Illusions 1995
Love songs 1997
How about you 1997
Peace 1998
Never be another 2000
Sexy cool 2000
Close to you 2002
I wanna know 2005
Superwoman 2005
For all we know 2007
Sweet baby 2007
Listen baby 2008
Somebody laid it on us 2008
Bring me joy 2010
6 O'Clock revisited 2010
Trippin' 2013
Transition 1/Change the world 2013
Clips :
1977 ... the early 1970s. A hint of Disco, a hint of Funk. Things are slowly but surely coming into place ...
1977 ... efforts that pay in any case because the artist obtains his first classified title. An inexorable rise in power which will produce, in the following decade, very large caliber titles
1978 ... funk, funk, funk before time. Unfortunately, an advance on his time which does not allow him for the moment to take off more than that. Let's be patient ...
1979 ... this time it's Disco madness. An alternation of style my faith very sympathetic but which still does not produce a major hit. He will still have to work ...
1980 ... a passage to the following decade which sees the sound, just like the style, being refined. Music is like wine, you have to give time to time ...
1981 ... we leave the Dancefloor for a magnificent foray into the Intimist world. A sumptuous title which combines with 2 and which shows the great versatility of the artist. MA-GIC !
1982 ... then comes THIS title, the artist simply signs one of the biggest Funk hits of the 80s. A dynamic of success now well in place and which is not about to falter. MAS-TER-FUL !
1982 ... one of the best Funk sounds of the moment, the Duke style is now fully operational and just waiting to be rolled out. And to unroll, it will unroll !
1983 ... but that is without counting on this title, a HUGE Dance title which will undoubtedly remain one of the most emblematic of the decade. The artist obtains a widely deserved worldwide recognition which definitively consecrates him as one of the best artists of the moment. MAS-TER-FUL !
1983 ... the Ultimate Slow, an essential title for any good discography. And the least we can say is that this one is particularly successful. MAG-NI-FI-CENT !
1983 ... new adventure with friend Stanley Clarke, an association that works perfectly and that produces a new title with more than certain quality !
1984 ... back to Dance. And the least we can say is that it is still as effective ! The artist now masters his subject perfectly and we see the result !
1985 ... we feel the typical sound evolution of the mid-80s. An necessary adaptation to stay in the race. And it pays !
1985 ... the artist is now in a first class Dance dynamic and each title released works immediately. And it doesn't matter that the titles are not even classified, like this one ...
1986 ... big delirium version Daft Punk Vs Art of Noise. A totally crazy and frankly disconcerting exercise in style !
1986 ... which does not prevent him from signing some Intimist title of all beauty. Extremely efficient versatility and among the best around. MA-GIC !
1989 ... it's funky, it's groovy but it is clear that the end of the decade does not necessarily rhyme with great inspiration. Can do better !
1990 ... he begins the new decade very gently and finely. Where the competition is walking on completely unrestrained tempos, he chooses the party of the slowly but surely. And why not...
1992 ... in collective delirium mode. Admittedly, there are beautiful people but that is unfortunately not enough to produce an exceptional title. Quantity does not necessarily rhyme with quality ...
1995 ... the last hit. Almost 20 years after his debut, he signs here a last high quality Intimist title. One more !
1995...last major hit but not the end of the adventure, far from it. Admittedly, he will no longer be at the head of the pack from now on, but what he will continue to offer will be far from deserving...
1997...all the opuses that will be released from now on will be half-instrumental, half-sung. An assumed bias but which will inevitably marginalize him slowly but surely...
1997... he will hardly classify any more title but the albums, them, will continue to appear well in the Charts. It's already that...
1998...a pure instrumental title which shows in a very beautiful way that he also knows how to excel in titles without words. An XXL talent...
2000...here he begins his 4th decade of career which is not nothing. As always, only the best can last this long...
2000...a 4th decade which will see the release of an impressive number of albums. An inspiration that remains stable even if it is no longer as bright as before...
2002...on the other hand it is clear that it is not with titles like this that he risks attracting the young generation. Afterwards, is it really his core target now...
2005...the only thing we can blame him for is not having been able to reinvent himself in this new decade. A good job, certainly, but without real risk-taking...
2005...we will therefore have to be satisfied with what he offers because it will be like that until the end. On the other hand, the basic fans do not ask for more...
2007...we find him here in jazzy mode for a new opus that will satisfy only fans of the genre. And there are bound to be...
2007... a bunch of artists from the 80s and still present like him will have played it the same way. Either in jazzy mode, or in cover mode of old standards, or the special Christmas albums on repeat...
2008...we are far, very far from his early career titles which set fire to all the Dancefloors of the planet. Such is life as they say...
2008...a discography which will therefore have seen him go from one extreme to another : all fired up at his beginnings and all in restraint at the end...
2010...an adventure that continues at the start of the 2010 decade on exactly the same basis as during the previous decade. The case has been closed for a long time...
2010...a 2010 decade that will be much less productive than the previous one. Not that the artist wants to stop there but it is rather fate that will put an end to it...
2013...the last year. The artist does not yet know that this year will indeed be the last in all respects...
2013...a particularly busy career which ends here and which will have made him one of the artists who clearly marked the musical world of the modern era...
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :